Colors in the Ocean
by HeartoftheArtsari
Summary: "You've awakened the Force . . ." Focusing on a deeply thoughtful Rey, set right after TFA, considering her newly awakened, conflicted life and the men who've come to inhabit it, as she adjusts to the island . . . of Ahch-To. Hopefully in character flow . . . no matter 'what happens' in "The Last Jedi." Gap-filler/Complete. A Rey-centric lyrical musing quartet. Review, review! ;)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** I own nothing related to **Star Wars** here, I express only my unique thoughts and related feelings on the subject herein.

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 _Sometimes when you're somewhere new all you can think about is what you've left behind . . ._

Rey sat on an outcropping of the island Ahch-To, her legs stretched before her, the sounds of the waves rising below her. The _ocean_ was dizzying. The _colors_ , the blue the _green_ , the grey . . . all those shades that swirled across the depths entranced her. But its strange beauty couldn't keep her thoughts from Finn. How was he? Would he recover from their frightening shared ordeal? Would she? Was she so different from that abandoned _scavenger_ on the desert plains of Jakku? Had snow, green trees and the entrance of unlikely friends seared her once lonely existence, forever? Finn was like her in a way . . . trying to find his way in the possibilities of a whole new world . . . would he ever get the opportunity to _see_ this sight? Walk, fight again?

Breathing out a deep, full breath, Rey pondered the words of Luke Skywalker. The stoic, mysterious, older man had suggested that a clear mind was the only true way to see the future, but how was she to clear the slate, make it clean again? But then again had it ever been clear? No, it had never been easy to read the 'future' in her case, because of her unique circumstances. She had been forced to live her whole life as though balanced upon the edge of a knife, angry, determined to beat the formidable odds. And now it seemed that the real battle was within, finding clarity from her emotions.

Rey rose to her feet, feeling the tiny rocks shift beneath the soles of her sturdy boots. The gravely path seemed so solid, so stabilizing, she imagined how the Force might feel if solid in that way, not so intangible and tempting like a constellation upon the edges of her mind. It hummed, always promising more, ever on the edges of her conscious awareness, drawing her to Luke Skywalker far across the galaxy. Yes, to one hermetic individual who had forsworn training a new generation of Jedi after tragedy, so where did that leave her? Was she destined to be a Jedi, to learn the ways of the Force or remain in a haunted state of limbo, kept at arms length?

Her hands reached for Luke's old light-saber, an old habit, reinforced in her travels to Ach-to, a way to feel close to _Finn_ and the compelling _possibilities_ of her new power. Sometimes she had pressed along its edges as if seeking to ignite it, but she had always stopped herself, still reeling from her improbable victory, if it could be called that, in those snowy, cataclysmic forests against . . . _that man._

Luke had the light-saber now, and she was waiting for him to emerge from his disgruntled hiding and the act of _"clearing his mind,'_ if that was something that could happen in this century. Her patience was wearing thin, she hated to confess, but her whole life was full and stunning and unexpected under this incandescent sun, so Rey tried to just . . . breathe. For Finn, For General Leia Organa, for Han Solo, for the living and the dead. _She_ was alive and she wouldn't give into the depths of loneliness, she wouldn't.

"I'm alive!" she found herself shouting to the breeze, the wind pulling her voice out like the strands of her hair. "I'm alive!" Tears streamed down her face, and before she knew it she was kneeling, holding her chest, feeling her heartbreak with all the power of a _force-user_. _What was she even doing here, somewhere so astoundingly, exotically beautiful and dream-like? Who **was** she? _ She opened her eyes like one who had been blind and her spine tingled.

"You are indeed . . . praise be to the stars, for that reality, young Rey."

She jumped, whirled around at the old Jedi's voice, surprised at the kindness in the gruff man's face. "I am." she said simply, solidly to Luke, unflappable and hiding her tears with a painful swallow.

"Have you ever seen so much water?" he asked quietly, glancing past her to the endless blue horizon.

"No," Rey whispered, shaking her head.

"Water can destroy or sustain you, your choice, your reason." Luke looked through her as if seeing someone else.

"What will you choose?" Rey found herself asking.

"You. Who have come across the stars for _a reason_."

 _"Yes,"_ she breathed.

"Do you want to save your new friends, heal this galaxy?"

"I do."

Luke came unobtrusively, slowly to her side and carefully, quickly touched her wet cheekbone, looked long at the remnants of tears in her deep mote-like eyes."Somehow, I believe you. I see the light and shadow within you, seeking unity; you've awakened the Force."


	2. Chapter 2

_Past, present, future; not separate . . ._

Rey's brow tightened as she looked over the display panel upon the _Millennium Falcon._ Chewie had complained about the muffled message sent over the wireless from General Leia, and she was attempting to retrieve it so they could make out the General's terse words. Her hands dexterously moved across the instruments while Chewie checked the complex wiring beneath, the repetitive motions subduing her mind.

The Wookie suddenly communicated Artoo's presence, and Rey's eyes lifted to the droid. The beeping R2-D2 announced Luke Skywalker's presence and Rey stared at the grey Jedi, feeling slightly irritated with herself; she hadn't been able to sense his force signature, something Luke had expounded upon during the course of their scattered conversations this last week. Rey had felt the power of the Force all the more strongly since arriving at the mysterious, steep island of Ahch-To. Luke had certainly confirmed her high Force-sensitive abilities, but had seemed reluctant to take her on as a student or become involved again with Leia and the Resistance.

"Why?" she'd questioned Luke. The repeated ponderings had made her thoughts spin, her throat ache. Luke looked as she felt; they both came from relative isolation in the desert and they both knew she'd come to break him out of his self-imposed cage of security.

"Why? I think you know why," he'd said, and Rey found she had no argument for him, watching the narrow glisten of his ocean-like eyes. Sometimes she would walk away and stare at the horizon after such a moment, the sounds of the waves like the feel of the Force. Should she give up? Did she not know how to read rejection when she'd found it? Luke would never trust someone like _her_ _again._

"How do you know that, young Rey?" Luke's voice was currently soft, soft as the rustle of his cloak.

Rey breathed in deep and hurriedly walled off her force-field. She hadn't felt him read her thoughts . . . or emotions. "I don't know why you call me that. I'm no . . . child."

"Perhaps its because I'm attuned to your gifts, Rey _,_ and they are the gifts of the young. I am _not_ young."

"But not _useless_ , " Rey pressed, stepping away from the instrument panel.

Luke chuckled deep in his throat, making Rey think she'd tapped into him.

"See? You're already learning to read the waves."

"Read the waves?"

"But not enough, or else you would sense not just my signature but this: It would be better if I was _useless_. I don't know if I can contribute . . ." Luke stubbornly paused. "I could cause more harm than good."

"That could be said about me, too."

Luke passed his hand over his eyes. "But you did not nurture the darkness beneath your nose, ignore it till it was too late . . ."

 _Kylo Ren._

The floodgates opened and Rey was back on the abyss struggling against the torrent. She shook her head as the pressure of the memory pressed upon her mind. It sickened her to remember. _"No, no . . . " she screamed silently._

 _"Don't leave me!" came her plea, for here was Han Solo, who'd symbolized so much hewn down by a monster, his . . ._

 _Suddenly he was back on this very spaceship, roguishly telling her "There's nothing you can't learn with a little gumption, Rey."_

 _The walls of the Millennium Falcon curved about her feverishly, and suddenly she was staring at the walls like she would stare at her reflection resting upon the water._

 _Dark eyes seemed to gather on the surface._

 _ **"Where are you Rey . . . Have you learned the ways of the Force?"**_

 _She screamed again. "Get out, I don't want you! I'm the light!"_

 ** _"What's between . . .?"_**

 ** _"Nothing!"_** _She threw out her hand and the water shivered with the force of the sunshine in her palm. The scene melted away like shadows . . ._

 _"I know who torments you, summons you,"_ Luke's mental voice was calm, steady, and it brought her back to reality.

Rey's eyes blinked, trying to clear the tears, the fears summoned by the vision. It reminded her of the raw fight or flight she'd felt after her experience in Maz Kanata's castle.

She breathed in, looked down and saw that Luke had pressed his palm to hers to create stability. "Are you better?" his voice was concerned.

Rey nodded, swallowing back the remnants of her bile.

You'll learn to shield it out, but only after a long time," he said, looking so distressed, that she knew his grief for Han Solo was also paramount and uncanny.

"Shield against Kylo Ren," Rey said _his_ name, unleashing the fiery anger in her voice and Luke flinched.

"Yes, you'll get strong," Luke glanced reflectively at the light-saber she'd clipped back to her belt.

" _Will_ you answer back General Leia?" She surprised herself at her pressure, at the way she challenged him.

He stepped away, looked at Rey and did not answer her. Rey could feel his thought-shield.

"What does my sister want? What do you want me to do?" Luke wavered and Rey knew that he _knew_ what was needed . . .

Han Solo was probably smiling at them right now. Rey pressed a hand to her forehead, exhausted . . . but aware that she'd conquered a fear and unknowingly helped Luke. The elder Jedi had pushed back his hood and glanced towards Chewbacca and Artoo, who took him in with reverence, expectation.

 _I could learn from him, from this._ For she was sure there was more messages to come.

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	3. Chapter 3

_A_ /N: Hi Ya'll . . . so I have had some editing mishaps and other busy stuff going on so that's why there's been such a long delay here in continuing! Ah well onward! Upwards. :)

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 _Dreams, reality, not always what they seem . . ._

The water gleamed like a diamond in the sun, wide and unknowing in its depths _. What's real and far between?_ Rey wandered out along the shoreline of the rocky beach, her feet making indistinct prints on the very edge of the wet sand. Her toes brushed the water, her boots dangled from her hands. _What would it be like to . . . swim?_

For some reason Rey shivered and turned her head back to those long flights of steps and the abode of the conflicted yet strong-minded _Master_ Luke Skywalker. _If that's what he is to me now._

The sounds of the ocean were tempting though and lulled her heart to a peace she'd never known. For one moment she could forget the cares of the worlds . . . but she couldn't live in this moment forever; she couldn't ignore the recent summons, the draws to the Resistance. It was almost like the idea of her family returning. Wasn't it something to hold onto after all?

The Force would help her; this she didn't doubt, even if her nights brought her strange dreams and her days numerous conflicting realities. Rey's lips curved in an uneven smile. She mused about the latest development that threatened to uproot Luke Skywalker's distant status quo. The Resistance was calling and General Leia herself. His sister was reaching out and sending someone to effectively boot him from Ahch-to ( _albeit temporarily, he'd muttered)._ And that someone was Poe Dameron, ace fighter pilot and Black Squadron leader, so Rey knew how dearly Leia valued their presence. Poe was due to arrive shortly but until then Rey wanted to enjoy Ahch-to. One never knew how the Resistance might distract her, take her from her quiet esoteric yearnings to the bolder pursuits fighting wars in the stars . . .

Rey glanced up even as she heard a ripple across the surface of the water. She softened her breath as though anticipating energies, _Force,_ for wasn't that what it was? She knew that it stirred her, pulled at her, had irrevocably changed and deepened her shadowy life . . . she saw _him then_ , but it was no longer with the same raw disgust she'd felt before; this felt more like some sadness, wrapping its way about her heart as Rey beheld the face of Kylo Ren, once Ben Solo, Leia's son.

 _Leia._ Leia would not quail; neither would her Jedi brother, so thus Rey had learned from them to shield herself partially, if not fully from the roving mind of Kylo Ren. " **Someday, there will be a reckoning, scavenger** ," his voice, his face quavered on the surface of the water and in her mind, a mirage but not entirely illusionary. Rey scrunched her dark brows.

" _But even you don't know when; things are apace."_

Kylo Ren mirrored her cool tone when he said: " **If I were you I would take care with your Jed training, for you won't find me so surprised next time we meet."**

 _"Neither will I be so unaware, unassured,"_ Rey said in their shared thought-wave, analyzing the nuances, knowing it was with more hope than truth. Why would he tell her anything that might help her cause? She shook her head, and disconnected from his mental probe as though waking from a dream; not easy, but doable, strangely fascinating, like Ahch-to, like Luke Skywalker, its omnipresent grey Jedi.

Patting the damp wet remains of the ocean on the soles of her feet, Rey slipped on her shoes again. She turned and walked towards the _Millennium Falcon_ parked on another outreaching cove. Poe Dameron would arrive soon, hopefully with the delightful BB-8 in tow, and while Rey was most eager to hear of Finn's development and healing, she also looked forward to seeing the pilot again and getting to know the him better. Their acquaitance had been brief yet meaningful, as Poe had charismatically and profusely thanked her for looking after his droid. It had bonded them in a way, but like so many things , this relationship was new to Rey. Frontiers loomed, ones she knew not how to attempt.

She felt urgently drawn to the skies again, as pretty and revealing as Ahch-to could be. Luke's moods along with her own were confusing and she realized for all of Chewie and R2-D2's companionship, how much she needed another human being in the flesh. It was time to fly, to take Luke away from exile.

Rey heard a whirling, a gathering of energy, and as she glanced about she saw the unmistakable figure of Luke Skywalker up on the bluff, and there . . . in the horizon above the _Millennium Falcon_ was something else. Rey's eyes lifted to it, agleam.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I know it's no real excuse, but I've delayed this chapter because of just how busy life has become! I have a moment now to draw it all to completion, however ! ;) That's a good thing I suppose, but I wanted to give this its _proper_ due. Was everyone as excited as I was by "The Last Jedi" Teaser Trailer?" And with the film's upcoming release, who can't wait to see what they finally do with our favorite characters and the mysteries of the plot? _:) ;) Thank-you for this journey, lovely readers!_

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 _There was a sense/ a knowing/ discernment from chaos . . ._

Finding her footing among the boulders, Rey leapt lightly along the mossy ledge and glanced down at the iridescent beach. Rey watched Luke continue to converse with Poe Dameron and members of his small squadron that had flown into their hermitage of Ahch-To, his intent expression never betraying what Rey was sure was a mixed-up fear and desire to return to the Resistance, to heed the call of his sister, General Leia Organa and mother of their universal enemy and tempter, Kylo Ren.

She may have succeeded in first finding and getting to know this newly re-discovered Luke Skywalker, and she knew how she felt about him, but how did Poe and his fellow pilots feel? Luke was a legend, one of a kind, and he didn't have as much patience as he liked to project. Rey hoped for his sake and her own, that he could withhold a certain bitter, brittle edge when asked to reach a decision, and not treat their visitors like invaders . . .

She, after some time on Ahch-To, had already decided on her own course of action, whatever the elder Jedi's choice.

Rey had excused herself from the visitors to take this walk on her own, however much BB-8's obvious disappointment, finding she needed a break from the masked pleasantries, even as her eyes took in the charismatic band of pilots in their uniforms and helmets with a mixture of envy and admiration. To have such a clear, designated calling within the Resistance! Such purpose was something she could have only dreamed about on Jakku.

Poe Dameron was a lucky bastard, and he knew it; blessed with preternatural fortune in his military career, that confident smile and the absolute best friend anyone could have in the galaxy, BB-8, he had every reason to be arrogantly standoffish, but he wasn't, and for this Rey was grateful. He had been nice to her before, rampantly curious to hear of his droid's exploits and her rescue of him on the blistering sands of Jakku.

There was something about his presence that was warm, soothing to her aura, and she had felt relief overcome her when he mentioned how far Finn had recovered. "Soon he'll have special, covert assignments."

"Assignments? That sound's promising," Rey shielded her eyes from the glare of sun and metal machine, the ships strikingly silver lined up on the beach.

BB-8 had chorused his own excitement as he buzzed about Rey with dizzying, joyous speed at their reunion, and hoping for the possibilities of a reunion with everyone. "Yeah I wish I could go with Finn too, buddy, but there's a multitude of other dangerous things to attend to. Have you enjoyed Ahch-To? I know Finn would have loved to come here." Poe proceeded to redirect his attention from BB-8 and ask Rey.

Wondering desperately after Finn's mysterious assignment, Rey just nodded, and then underneath Poe's beaming glance found herself blushing. "The inhabitants are unlike any other," she returned, carefully smiling as she shielded her thoughts from Luke. _"For where else do you find hermit Jedi's, long-lost to the galaxy and reality?"_

It was true that even Luke's work with the Force was not always Rey's blunt style or reality instinctively, however much she valued and trusted the elder Jedi; she needed her own space to access the threat of Kylo Ren straight-on, who to her resounding concern, had been causing too many recent disturbances in the Force. She doubted Luke would approve of her mental link to his nemesis-nephew. Rey hadn't chosen the link; the link had chosen her.

Rey pulled in her thoughts and eyes from the current visage of Luke and Poe Dameron below her, their light and dark heads speaking of General Leia, all the while observed by the rest of the at-attention squadron. No one had followed her, _yet_ . . . even though Luke's Force signature pulled tendril-like, every so often at the back of her mind, curious, concerned. Rey enjoyed this concealment however temporary, and she jumped back to the soft ground unseen, landing in a crouch, her hair spilling in loose waves down her back, barely pulled back from her face, unlike her old favorite of the three twists at the nape of her skull. A cloud drifted across the boundless sky and Rey looked up.

 _Ren_

 **"I will come to you."** As always it was more than a whisper.

" _You will not hurt anyone here."_ Rey didn't know how she was so calm or how she believed her own words, but she did.

" **What does it matter?"** so blasé, as if there were no consequences that applied to _him._

" _It matters a lot Ben Solo, because I think you'll be curious to know that I'm leaving to be active in the Resistance."_ Let him chew on that truth.

" **I sense your profound confusion and disillusion, scavenger Rey."** Rey straightened, stood as still as she could , processing those taunting, reverberating words.

 _"I will no longer hide and shrink from my calling, and if I am confused I will find it and console it in myself._ " Her eyes flashed but she swallowed, rocking back on her heels and swiftly scanning the green plateau of the hill upon which she stood.

Kylo Ren seemed to be trying to find something of import to say, and if he sought to tempt her again, Rey felt that for the moment, his mind had retreated back on itself, calculating . . . **"Self knowledge is important,"** he said finally.

 _"Not your kind,"_ quipped Rey, edging forward.

 **"What is between, though?"** This was deja vu, Rey walked to the edge of the cliff, skirted by the crashing sea-foam.

" _Yes, now I know what is."_ Rey closed her hazel eyes against the stinging spray of the surf. _"Everything."_ Sounds, sensation floated through the air, and in a motion Rey had unsheathed her light-saber, watching it reflect back into her eyes, up into the sky, and into the ocean.

For now the path beneath her feet was emerald, solid ground, solid color, and all her focus was in her feet, in her speed, as she whirled, racing towards the rocky steps. Rey had shutdown the link. In her mind she was already swimming in the unending constellations of water, and there were no limitations in sight . . .


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